Historic buildings—both homes and businesses—deserve preservation and reuse, so your children, grandchildren and generations beyond can enjoy the special qualities these beautiful structures bring to your neighborhood and city.

Whether you’re a property owner, developer, city official, a member or leader of an organization, or you simply want to ensure that progress in our community moves forward while actively incorporating preservation and reuse strategies, you can find opportunities to create awareness and take action at Save CR Heritage.

Frankie House

The home now known as the Frankie House at 1257 Third Avenue SE was built in the 1890s in Wellington Heights, one of Cedar Rapids’ oldest neighborhoods. Once slated for demolition, the historic gem has been moved to a new lot in the neighborhood and is being rehabbed as a result of a unique partnership. The goal is to eventually sell it as affordable housing.

Moving the Frankie House to its new lot was a big project, even though its destination was only a few blocks away. We’re grateful for all the volunteer efforts, donations and in-kind contributions, which have made this project more affordable. But moving and renovating a house that’s been vacant several years creates significant expenses. We continue to rely on multiple sources to fund the move and restoration, including public support, a bank loan, grants and tax credits, our own assets and public support.

The Frankie House project fits perfectly in our mission of saving historic resources by developing preservation and reuse strategies. We hope this grassroots project serves as a model to extend the life of historic buildings and conserve natural resources in our community.